An Air Force T-38C Talon training aircraft crashed Wednesday at about 12:30 p.m. on Columbus AFB, Miss., killing two pilots aboard, according to a USAF release. Names of the pilots were being withheld pending notification of next of kin. According to report from WCBI-TV in Columbus, witnesses saw smoke rising from the base. The station also reported that other training aircraft aloft at the time were diverted to a nearby civilian airport.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.